After all our work was done we headed for the desert: a region we had not been able to visit since 2007. On the way we stopped at Aboye, checked on the matrone, and had a party for the people there. When we arrived and they saw who was with us: tuareg guitarists Hasso and Alhassane, they sent us a sheep as a gift and a bribe to insure there would be a concert that night. After dinner the crowd began to arrive–quietly in the night as nomads always do. They got a surprise when Hasso asked Ned to sing a song. After exchanging numbers many times, the crowd was dancing, ululating and clapping and American cowboy music and rock has a new place in the tuareg culture.
Bennie dances with a very talented and animated young dancer from Aboye.
Most surprising about the visit was that the people at Aboye recognized Ned as a relative of Jim (his father and my brother) who had danced so vigorously with them in 2000. I guess he made an impression! Ned certainly did.
Hey wait a minute…all this fun and it is the ONLY night I went to bed early….
Linda Lamb
You snooze you loose–we did miss you.